Chemical oxidation polymerization and characterization of poly ortho-anisidine nanoparticles

Abstract

Poly o-anisidine (POA) is a conductive polymer that can conduct electrons by a π-conjugated system. POA is a derivative of polyaniline, however, it still exhibits low electrical conductivity. This work is focused on the improvement of electrical conductivity of POA by synthesizing POA in nanoparticle forms using an anion as a dopant. POA nanoparticles were obtained from chemical oxidation polymerization using an ammonium persulfate as an oxidant and a sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) as a surfactant for controlling POA size and shape. The properties of the POA nanoparticles were characterized by FT-IR, UV-Vis spectroscopy, TGA, and SEM. POA nanoparticles shapes were nano-fibers with a diameter varying from 63 to 129 nm depending on the polymerization temperature, polymerization time, and SDS concentration. The electrical conductive obtained varied from 0.022 to 168 S/cm, a variation of 4 orders of magnitude, depending on the POA nanoparticle size and SDS concentration. The smallest POA nanoparticle size provided the highest electrical conductivity because of the larger surface area for electron transfer. Thus, this work demonstrated the extremely high electrical conductivity of the synthesized nano-fiber shape POA which have not previously been reported elsewhere.